Derby Arona 2016
November report

Late November and it’s a hive of activity as preparations were being made around the loft for the forthcoming first training race on Dec 2nd, with a record number of entries ever received in its ten previous years of existence, there has been a huge increase in work load to maintain and keep the pigeons, loft surroundings in a clean and healthy environment , this has obviously had a knock on effect on the administration side of things in the form of a slight delay in individually photographing the pigeons currently being housed as in previous years , but rest assured this will hopefully be done prior the activation period later in the month so that participants can see their entries and how they have matured since entering the loft during the past months.

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On the 26th Nov i had the opportunity of flying out to Tenerife for a week to celebrate our youngest daughter Megan`s 16th birthday, which incidentally coincided with the first training race on 2nd Dec.

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All loaded and ready for the off
On Monday 30th Nov we had had pre-arranged and welcomed the opportunity of travelling from play de Las Americas to meet up with the Arona team and view the pigeons at the Guaza lofts , on our arrival we were welcomed by Jose and Abel Ledesma and witnessed the pigeons during their daily exercise the fitness and health was clearly seen, as they scoured the warm canarian skies above us, I’m informed that each day the pigeons are exercised for about three hours at their liberty around the lofts, with the occasional, flagging to encourage them to fly, its during this time the lofts are cleaned and drinkers disinfected routinely to rule out any cross contamination and illnesses before being allowed back in for feeding, the feed that the pigeons are currently being fed on is a light mixture due to the high temperatures, which will slowly be altered to a heavier mix as the training and racing program progresses, both of which are sourced from the Belgium grain merchants natural, after witnessing a work in progress in and around the lofts and Jose keen to return to the administration in preparation for the forthcoming race, we didnt outstay our welcome but made plans to return for the race two days later to see the pigeons arrive from training race one.

Wednesday morning

And after experiencing the “Calima” which had shadowed the island for the past few days at first hand which consists of a cloudy grit effect atmosphere, we were greeted that morning with the best day of our stay, blue skies little wind and i was informed that it was going to be a good day when mount Teide which is 3718 meters high the highest mountain in Spain and an idyllic, backdrop to the lofts, is snow capped as it was that day,.

myself and Meg dually made our way to the lofts at 08.45 after consulting the night before with Jose on his plans for liberating .on arrival we found that the pigeons had been basketed Tuesday evening and loaded on the transporter with drinkers on overnight and were just about ready to set off on the short journey to the liberation site for a planned liberation at 09.30, we dually took up our positions to await the news on the liberation, during the waiting period, Jose kept us up to date as to what was happening on site and commented on the increasing number of interested parties viewing the live stream, to witness the race as it unfolded, after giving the pigeons time to settle the strings were cut releasing the 2…. at 09.45 into clear blue skies and rising temperatures reaching 26 degrees, at that time, indicating the 2016 race series was underway.

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Race 1 winner – Carlo Gyselbrecht
After a short wait as we searched the sky above a single pigeon was spotted heading towards the loft at 09.53, we sat patiently to see the intentions of this pigeon but were under the impression that this was not to be one of the entries as it got closer and didn’t seem to recognize its home , however just as we looked elsewhere for a more positive sighting, this pigeon circled high above the loft clearly preparing to land, indicating that it was to be the start of the pigeons returning , in a matter of seconds the numbers had increased and there was now around fifteen to twenty pigeons dancing around the skies high above us as we awaited for the first to land and cross the finishing line to take the top honor, it was during this time on the horizon we spotted the first mass of pigeons zig zagging towards us from across the banana plantations in their hundreds race up to the lofts, a sight i recommend anyone to witness, a few moments later which possibly seemed like a life time for most viewing via the computer the first couple of arrivals dropped onto the loft roof and landing board and once realizing that they were home took a short pause as the winning pigeon entered the trap.

The winner on this the first training race was an entry for the Belgium fancier Carlo Gyselbrecht with pigeon named “Kompany” timing in at 09.56.17 some forty seconds later there was a scramble for the remaining positions as pigeons made their way into the lofts resulting in 2nd position going to the golden ladies syndicate representing a European consortium with their entry Athos timing in at 09.57.00 3rd was tom van der Kamp from the Netherlands with his

Golden Ladies - 2nd position Race 1
Golden Ladies – 2nd position Race 1
entry Uranus on 09.57.00.70,4th was a second arrival for team belgium this one was for team Marc Bert Racing Pigeon Photography with Elmidio at 09.57.21.55, in 5th and 6th place was the Netherlands fancier and previous years car winner Hok M.Reijnen with two of his entries Melodia and Barry timing in at 09.57.32.85 and 09.57.39.20 respectivly, 7th and it was team Czech republic Lubomir Kubacek with entry Secret on 09.57.39.85 closely followed in by three for team Germany with walking in the wind for Team Waz taking 8th with a time of 09.57.43.80, Alexander gebel and atlantic + in 9th on 09.57.46.45 and rounding off today’s top ten was Rolf Schlomer and his entry Muenchen at 09.57.47.30.

The first arrival for team uk/ireland for this first outing was team flash in 13th position with their entry Spirit timing just behind the leading pigeons at 09.57.53.85.

Paul-Heinz Wesjohann - 1st position race 2
Paul-Heinz Wesjohann – 1st position race 2
The winning two pigeon for race two was for team Germany with Paul-Heinz Wesjohann entry Rooey taking the top spot at 10.11.56 a clear two minutes in front of second arrival of fellow countrymen team S.A.S with their pigeon Miss Wonderduk timing in at 10.13.22, 3rd place and 1st Uk pigeon went to team ultimate Syn with Ultimate super on 10.13.31,4th position went to team Italy and Ferngully on 10.13.39 closely followed in 5th by local Tenerife fancier Jose Martín Gonzalez with his entry hail Mary at 10.13.41, team Croatia takes 6th place with Simun at 10.13.43, in 7th it was the march 2015 winning final syndicate Team Leyen-Paloma Belgie with their pigeon Patrica on 10.13.56 8th position goes to a third arrival for team Germany with team Klass & Sohn coming in at 10.14.01,9th goes to the Gran Canarian pigeon Ali Baba for team Yahvé & Oliveiro at 10.14.07, just head of team Rumania and syndicate Tudor Valentin & Matia on 10.14.08 which rounds off today’s top ten.

Team SAS - 2nd position in race 2
Team SAS – 2nd position in race 2
Following on from the leading pigeons the remainder of the pigeons once again could clearly be seen to return in large number over the following few minutes and whilst a few are still learning about the trapping procedure on their return that we previously mentioned, this will come in time once the team find the balance with the feeding, the distance gets a little further and the pigeons return in smaller numbers, at the close of night there was once again a high percentage rate of 99.69 and 2597 pigeons home, with a further nine coming in the following morning just eight pigeons remain unaccounted for at present.

Following on from the leading pigeons the remainder of the pigeons once again could clearly be seen to return in large number over the following few minutes and whilst a few are still learning about the trapping procedure on their return that we previously mentioned, this will come in time once the team find the balance with the feeding, the distance gets a little further and the pigeons return in smaller numbers, at the close of night there was once again a high percentage rate of 99.69 and 2597 pigeons home, with a further nine coming in the following morning just eight pigeons remain unaccounted.

A happy Arona Team after race 1 and 2
A happy Arona Team after race 1 and 2
So we now have a weekend break and prepare for training race three planned for Tuesday 8th Dec when there will be a slight increase in distance, however time is also closing in now as we approach the owners activation period, which commences after training race 5 on December 14th after which unpaid for pigeons are open for third party activation, so it’s time to consider your options in preparation for this good luck for the remaining three races in phase one of the 2016 Arona derby one loft race, after the break for the Xmas and new year period, we recommence in the new year when the training gets more intense as the distances increase.